Monday, April 6, 2009

Spicy Black Bean Tamale Pie

This dish kicks ass! I first made it last December when I was too busy to blog, so it's been sitting amongst my drafts for the past 3 months, patiently waiting to be posted until I made it again today.

I based it on this recipe from the eggs on sunday blog. I left out the garlic, upped the chili powder, omitted the cinnamon, subbed a can of Ro-tel for the jalapeno, added a can of black eyed peas (because I love them so), omitted the cheese, and used a vegan cornbread recipe for the topping instead of the more polenta-like topping in the original recipe. I also like to brown the corn with the onion and bell pepper, to get it toasty and delicious. And I use what may sound like an insane amount of cilantro, but I'm kind of crazy about cilantro, and it does lose some of its flavor when it cooks.

The filling is to die for. Each time I've made it, Brad and I have hovered over the stove, scooping up big mouthfuls with tortilla chips. If you wanted, you could add another can or two or Ro-tel, and you'd have yourself a kick ass salsa. The filling would also be equally as delicious served over rice as it is in tamale pie form. It just depends on what you're craving.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and corn. Saute several minutes, until onion and bell pepper begin to soften, and all vegetables are somewhat browned. Add remaining ingredients, cooking and stirring until heated through. Pour into a 9x9 baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine almond milk and vinegar. Stir together and set aside while you measure and combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder. Add milk and vegetable oil. Stir thoroughly. Spread over bean filling. Bake 20-30 minutes, until cornbread topping is cooked through (you can test it with a toothpick).

If desired, sprinkle 1 cup grated cheddar cheese on the filling before adding the topping.

Recipe Index

What's with the "food slut" title?

Simple. I was initially going to go with "food whore" until Brad pointed out that "whores do it for the money, but sluts do it because they like it". Awesome.

Food slut, tell us about yourself!

How kind of you to ask!

I'm Cheryl, and I'm a food slut. I love food. I love cooking it, eating it, photographing it, staring at it, writing about it and reading about it. Cookbooks are one of my favorite things to read, and I'm known to scatter them around the house so I always have one to browse through, regardless of where I am. There are few things I find more enjoyable than ambling through a grocery store (particularly gourmet shops, or those in foreign countries) and checking out the products. I'm a slut, all right!

Besides being a food slut, I'm also a wife and mom. I'm 33years old, and have been married seven years to Brad, a man who loves food as much as I do. We have two fabulous little girls who love to help out in the kitchen. I've lived in Washington state (18 years, broken up into chunks of time here and there), California(3 years), Spain(7 years), Japan(4 years), Louisiana (1 year), and just recently moved to central New York, which I've already fallen deeply in love with.

This blog serves as a place for me to share my recipes with others, to make notes about different things I cook, and also as a means for me to corral all of my recipes in one place for easy reference.